


Bat Out Of Hell

by gastropods



Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Angst, Falling In Love, Fluff, Imprisonment, Other, Psychological Torture, Reader Insert, Slow Burn, Torture, a lil bit of everything yeehaw
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-13
Updated: 2019-04-30
Packaged: 2019-10-09 16:35:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17410394
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gastropods/pseuds/gastropods
Summary: I have returned from the dead. College is kicking my ass rn and I'm this close to dropping out, but that's something I can deal with. I've finally managed to finish this chapter and I know where the story is going! This might have a sequel based on Endgame (if you haven't seen it yet, PLEASE do, it's worth the effort) but I'm not 100% sure. Anyway, enjoy this pile of trash and there will be more trash coming soon! Love y'all and stay safe.





	1. Bat Out Of Hell

Being a part of a group of savages had wreaked havoc on your life from the moment you made the decision to join. In your defence, they never said anything about a blood oath until they stabbed you in the shoulder, giving you a highly visible, extremely recognizable scar.  You’d be “one of them” even after you died. Oh, well. At least the pay was good and you were guaranteed a home of sorts.

One of the main things your “family” lived off of was job offers. Money for your services and all that nonsense. A job offer was what got you in most of the messes you had been involved in. This one, however, was the worst one yet.

You were offered a job and the pay was so ridiculously high that you didn’t think twice before accepting. An order to kill a queen wasn’t unheard of and would have some horrid consequences, but it didn’t really matter in the end. You fucked up, got yourself caught and you were sure you’d be killed. It was alright, you weren’t scared. But the High Priestess recognized your lack of fear and chose a …unorthodox method of punishment. You had been told that the price for transgression against the Sovereign was death, but nobody mentioned imprisonment and torture.

From the second you’re awake to the moment you fall asleep, nothing changes. The only thing that the Sovereign people love more than themselves is structure and schedule. They don’t let you know what time you wake up or what day it is – that isn’t need to know information at this point. The same food comes through at what you assume is the same time every day, held by a guard that tries and fails to keep a straight face as she prepares your feeding contraption. You assume that she knows how it feels, or maybe she’s thriving on your humiliation.

One of the few choices you could make was taken away from you when you refused to eat for a length of time that you don’t even know, all you knew was dark, light, a hunger unlike anything you ever felt (all you wanted was death). After that, they put a specific tube through your nose that you assume goes to your stomach. They don’t let you feel hunger anymore and at this point, you think they just want to let you feel insane. You hate to say that it might be working.

-

It’s light again. The light fades into the room so slowly that you only realise that the light is turning on when it’s at medium brightness. You used to watch it brighten up to pass the time but now it’s just a reminder of how much they control; they hold your sunrise in the palm of their fucking hands and you want to rip their brains out of their skulls.

The cell door opens and five guards come in. It takes you a moment to process what you’re seeing. This isn’t part of the schedule. They don’t come in until much later. Something’s wrong.

The guards never talk to you, barely even acknowledge you except for when they untie you from your lovely chair that had become your only home. Holding your wrists tightly, they pull them behind you and tie them together so tightly you’re sure you might lose your hands. Silent communication between the guards is out of your line of sight, so when they grab your biceps and roughly pull you up to your feet you barely manage to conceal your surprise.

It’s already too much skin on skin contact, it’s been too long since you’ve ever felt someone’s hands on your skin and the rough grip on your arms makes your head hurt from how much feeling you’re being forced to process. Your brain blanks you as you try your best to make them let go. You thought that your fighting instinct was dead after so, so much time living on one train of thought but that familiar rush of adrenaline floods your synapses and suddenly your kicking up the biggest fuss you physically can.

“Stop your squirming, prisoner.” The order is loud, right next to your ear. On instinct, you turn and bite down. You feel flesh give way under your teeth and you’re dropped as the guard screams. You can taste the golden shine that you’ve scraped off of their cheek and you savour in it being the first thing you’ve actually tasted since they first dragged you in here.

Your moment is short lived when you’re kicked down. Hits to the ribs, shoulders, legs, everything, but you don’t register the impacts. You can taste blood in your mouth, a mix of the guard’s and your own blood. It’s bliss.

They gag you after that. It looks more like a muzzle than anything else, except it’s stretched flat against the lower half of your face. As a precaution, they tied your ankles together (eliminating all threats, you suppose). The guards smirk at your appearance, including the one with bite marks in her face. You recognize her as the guard that would ‘feed’ you. Your heart kicks off with satisfaction, but it’s short-lived. Hands grab your biceps again and drag you along the corridors. It strikes you how they all look exactly the same and for a moment you’re glad that you never managed to escape on your own – you’d never find your way out.

As the guards turn to the left, you enter a corridor with a grand door at the end of it. It looks familiar, but you can’t be sure where from exactly. Recollecting thoughts and memories is so difficult for you now. Realising this brings more fight into your soul, how dare they play these tricks on your brain? Your fight is useless, your arms protest in pain from being held like this for so long. You don’t even know if it’s been two minutes or twenty.

The immense doors open slowly as you approach it at a steady pace. The doors give way to an enormous hall, the gold blinding you. You close your eyes and look away as the guards drop you on the floor. Steps can be heard behind you along with some whispering, but then silence.

“With all due respect, we never agreed to take someone else with us.” An unknown voice breaks the silence. You refuse to open your eyes still – this whole situation is strange and too much too soon for you.

“It’s not up for debate. We need them off this planet.” The new voice that comes from behind you makes you freeze. The High Priestess. You know where you are now: her famed throne room. Slowly, you open your eyes.

Instead of seeing the High Priestess in all her golden glory, you were opposite a group of mixed species. You recognized some, others looked like beings you’d see in a seedy bar in some hidden corner of the universe. It’s a line-up of sorts, with different colours and different beings. To your right is what seems to be another prisoner. She doesn’t look at you, but you can see the patchwork on her skull that looks familiar in a way that makes you know that you should remember her vividly. You frown and wait a moment for her to look at you, but she never does.

“Why should we do your dirty work?” The woman on your left asks. She glances at you for a few moments before looking back at the High Priestess. The woman holds herself like any good assassin would: calm, smooth movements. You spot her weapons attached to her thighs and know how easy it would be to take them if you could just free your hands.

The High Priestess sighs and although she makes next to no noise, you know she has stood up.

“You already helped us with one…inconvenience. What’s another to you?”

A human laughs and it surprises you. Humans are far and few between outside of Earth, maybe they’ve figured out how to travel outside of their planet?

“It’s a lot to ask if you don’t plan on paying us for it.” He answers her hypothetical question and you know the High Priestess doesn’t like that. The woman to his right steps forward.

“Why do you need them gone?” You don’t exactly listen, you’re trying to untie your hands if you could only just…reach that one knot.

Suddenly, you feel a sharp blow to the back of your head that makes you inhale sharply and you’re forced to blink some tears away. You’d forgotten about the guard. Dammit.

“They are affiliated with a certain group of savages. I’d rather not have them storming my palace for one singular pest of a being.” The High Priestess speaks. Your shoulders tense up more and more with each passing moment. You almost smile at her words. The Renegade’s code is that no man gets left behind, no matter what. It’s the one thing you love about being a part of their fucked up group.

As you look around, trying to find your way to freedom, you spot movement near the human’s foot. It’s a small plant of sorts, but it’s alive and shyly hiding behind the boots of its colleague, staring right at you. It’s cute in a way.

You decide to wink at it since your smile would be too open (and it wouldn’t be visible), and it blinks at you for a few moments before showing you an absolutely beaming smile. How sweet. It tugs the human’s trouser leg, interrupting his flirtations with the High Priestess.

“Yeah, Groot? What is it?” He asks quietly and it points at you.

“I am Groot.” It says, emphasising the pointing. The human frowns, looking between you and the small tree.

“They are not your friend, man, you just met them!” He sounds fed up, frustrated even. Is the small tree, Groot, always like this?

You can feel eyes on you as you quickly look down the line of creatures standing in front of you. The small animal is staring at you and you don’t like it, so you stare right back.

“They’re with the Renegades.” It says, cutting the human’s complaint in half.

“…Yes, they are.” The High Priestess responds after a few moments. You assume she was surprised that they even noticed your scar, but it was kind of hard not to since your plain clothes, loosened by how much weight you’d lost, had fallen off your right shoulder, letting anyone with visual capabilities see the iconic scarring.

No one says anything for some seconds. It’s rare to see a Renegade, even rarer seeing one imprisoned. You feel shame rise within you. You shouldn’t have been caught.

“No offence, lady, but there’s no way that we’re taking a Renegade of all things onto our ship. The whole squad will try to kill us just to get them back!” The small creature snaps at the High Priestess and you can hear some of the Priestess’ subjects gasp quietly around the hall. You barely stifle a laugh. Groot is still looking at you curiously.

You look over to the bound person by your side. She’s obviously a cyborg, but you’ve never seen one so…beautiful.

Finally, she looks at you, expressionless. You do the same you did with the small tree and wink at her. She blinks a few times, then shakes her head slightly before looking forward again. Your lips twitch, itching to smile a bit. You know that you know her, but where from?

You look at the group of people who are now fully arguing amongst themselves, completely ignoring everyone else around them. Although you don’t want to go with them, if going means you’ll get to know more about this mysterious being on your side, then you don’t really mind.

-


	2. You Took The Words Right Out of My Mouth (Hot Summer Night)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have returned from the dead. College is kicking my ass rn and I'm this close to dropping out, but that's something I can deal with. I've finally managed to finish this chapter and I know where the story is going! This might have a sequel based on Endgame (if you haven't seen it yet, PLEASE do, it's worth the effort) but I'm not 100% sure. Anyway, enjoy this pile of trash and there will be more trash coming soon! Love y'all and stay safe.

The belly of the ship was warmer than the rest of the shuttle. It wasn’t unusual, but it was such a small yet comforting aspect of space travel that it calmed you down a bit. Your fellow prisoner, whose name you’re still not sure of, is tied up right next to you. It’s a bit awkward at first, since Gamora, the green toned woman, had decided to tie you up first but left the muzzle on as she tied the cyborg to the same contraption that you were tied to.

“I’m hungry. Hand me some of that Yaro root.” The cyborg hisses, not even remotely fighting against her confinement. You look at the bowl of root and wince internally. It’s not ripe yet, and even if you felt like you could physically eat something, you wouldn’t go for that.

“No. It’s not ripe yet…and I hate you.” Gamora replies calmly, attaching the shackles to the metal hook. The other woman glances at you for a second, opening her mouth as if she were about to talk, but settles for a glare instead.

Silence reigns over the small but empty compartment until Gamora walks behind you and puts a hand on the back of your head. You flinch before you can even think about repressing it and the fact that you can’t even conceal your reactions anymore feels pathetic. She says nothing, just moves some hair out of the way and presses a button.

With a soft ‘click’, the muzzle falls to the floor. You finally take in a deep breath after what feels like hours of only breathing through your nose. All you can do is lean forward, resting your head against your forearms as you catch your breath. You feel dizzy from the sudden rush of air into your lungs.  You can see the green assassin walking around again and crouching down so that she can make eye contact with you.

“We’ll drop you off at our next stop. If you try anything…I’ll kill you.” She states coldly and you nod. You’d do the same if the roles were reversed, so you don’t blame her.

After making strong eye contact with you for a few more seconds, she gets up and leaves the two of you alone. You manage to make your breaths even out before you stand up straight again. Looking around, you can’t see much. It’s obvious that the crew don’t really use this area of the ship (which is a pity, these compartments make great bedrooms), there are random things everywhere including some space rigs on the walls.

Your new companion starts trying to escape her shackles. You can feel her movement in your wrists and although you don’t mind, you still feel the need to say something.

“You need a hand?” You ask, not thinking. She glares at you, stopping all movement and it takes you a moment to realise why. She’s literally only got one hand. Oh, fuck.

“Shit, I’m sorry, I didn’t-.” You start to apologise but you’re cut off.

“Shut up.” The cyborg growls at you, going back to her escape attempt. You wince but don’t try to say anything else. Sighing, you look around again and realise that you could probably reach the bowl of Yaro root that she was interested in earlier. You know it’s not ripe, but she seemed desperate enough and now you’re desperate enough to not seem like the universe’s biggest dickhead.

With ease, you dislocate your left thumb and wiggle your hand out of your confinement, putting your thumb back into place afterwards. You can feel  her staring at you as you reach over and oh so slowly grab a root,  barely managing to touch it at first but in the end you succeed.

You lean back into your original position and look at the Yaro root. It’s really not ripe at all, but it’s worth a shot.

“I’m sorry?” You say again, handing the root over to her. All she does is stare at you in a silence that’s hurting your ears. As she opens her mouth (to do what, you’ll never know), the ship suddenly shakes violently, making you drop the root in favour of holding on to whatever you can, which is thankfully the metal arm that’s holding the two of you together instead of your

Yelling can be heard up in the cockpit, so you assume everything’s gone to shit.

How nice.

-

“Look at this! Where is the other half of our ship?!” You roll your eyes as the crew continue to argue. You were alright, a little roughed up – your new buddy was in the same condition. She still hasn’t said anything to you and you’re pretty sure that your stunt with the Yaro root somehow offended her.

You never really can win, huh?

As the people who were supposed to make sure you didn’t get hurt argued over the state of their ship, you sighed and  started working on your other wrist. You had no idea where you were but it didn’t matter, you just wanted to get out and away from what could be considered the biggest bunch of idiots you’ve ever met (present company excluded).

“Get me out of these handcuffs.” The ever silent cyborg finally spoke to you. You stop and stare at her for a second. The cyborg stares back at you, her unwavering gaze making you feel on edge. Does she even blink?

“What’s your name?” You finally ask her and she blinks. Once, then twice, then again.

“…Nebula.”

With this, you smile at her and the tell-tale ‘clink’ of handcuffs unlocking breaks the momentary silence. Nebula looks down and sees that she’s free.

You’re about to speak when you hear a very quiet ‘ahem’ that makes you turn around. It’s the small tree- shit, what was his name?

“Groot! Hey, buddy!” You smile at him, hoping he doesn’t realise what you’ve done. You can feel her staring at you but you don’t have enough eyes to try and judge her emotions.

 He beams and it’s a sweet smile until he sees that you’re free of your confinement. With this realisation, he frowns and yells “I AM GROOT!” in a surprisingly loud way and runs up to you, hitting your leg with a twig he grows from his own arm (wait, is it his actual arm?). It feels like someone nudging your foot and it doesn’t even hurt. You immediately crouch down and hold Groot. He screams and you almost drop him to cover your ears.

“Dude! Please, be quiet.” You beg the small creature and he frowns but complies. You sigh quietly in relief.

“I’m really sorry, but we need to go. It can’t be safe here anyway.” Groot grumbles but you know you’ve won him over.

To thank him, you scratch the back of his head as you put him down and he practically purrs in your hands, it’s like being next to a running engine. He smiles and curls up on his little shelf. Your heart coos but you don’t say anything.

You turn to face Nebula, who’s gone quiet since Groot arrived, but instead of blue skin you’re faced with green. Oh. In the split second you get to process the situation, you’re able to come to the conclusion that Nebula just left you to face the assassin’s wrath, and for some reason that lands a sore blow to your chest. Gamora gives you one of the most aggressive glares you’ve ever seen before she punches you in the face.

You didn’t get to tell Nebula your name.

-

When you come to, all you see is forest and greenery. Your head hurts and you can feel your pulse pounding in your ears like an army’s march. After fighting your body you manage to slowly sit up and lean against the trunk of a tree that’s behind you. There’s a small fire in front of you and sat around it is Groot, the animal and surprisingly, Nebula.

“Do you even know how close Gamora was to killing you?” The animal comments and you frown.

“I’m surprised I even woke up.” You grunt, feeling the tightness of the rope around your wrists. The tips of your fingers are starting to change colour but that isn’t the worst of your problems at this point.

The animal sighs and is interrupted by the sight of a ship flying overhead with an attempt at discretion. “Ah, shit.” He mutters to himself and pats his pockets, seemingly taking inventory of what he has. He swears again, louder this time and starts making his way to the wreck.

“Don’t try anything.” He warns and goes off. You sigh and start working on the rope around your wrists.

The silence is almost deafening. Groot is staring intently at the both of you, obviously ready to shout if anything happens. He glares at your hands and you’re tempted to stop but you find that you can’t risk losing another chance to get free.

“Dude, I’m not doing this to upset you. You’re going to need help with whatever just landed anyway, I’m trying to make myself useful.” You explain to the small tree and he seems to consider this before nodding and fiddling with the grass near his feet.

The animal comes back out and you hide your wrists in your crossed legs and he doesn’t seem to notice them. He glares at you and then tells Groot to stay behind. “I’m just gonna deal with our new friends and I’ll be right back.”

You look at Nebula and see that they’ve basically trapped her by driving a large piece of scrap metal around her handcuffs, keeping her stuck in her place. It’s crude but effective. Once you manage to break free, you make your way over to her.

It’s unclear to you as to why you’d want to help her _again_ , especially after her little abandonment trick from earlier on, but there’s something about her that’s fuelling the nagging voice in the back of your head and you can’t ignore it.

Nebula stares at you as you pull the metal piece away from her handcuffs. Once you’ve succeeded, you hold your hand out, but she just stares at it instead. You sigh and put a hand over your brow in frustration.

“Your handcuffs, if you don’t mind.”

She doesn’t move for a moment, but then slowly stretches her hands out and you get to work.

“I know you from somewhere. Mind if I stick around until I know where from?” You ask her. In the silence before an answer, you could hear Rocket cackling madly at whatever he had planned, the breeze sifting through the trees like water from freshly cooked pasta coming out of a strainer.

Nebula still hasn’t answered, she’s too busy…looking at you. You try and hold her gaze for as long as you can. It’s unnerving how she barely blinks. You can see her strength even though she isn’t doing a single thing. She has a fighter’s soul, but there’s something else under all the combat knowledge and her hit list. All you want to know is her.

“Fine. Don’t get in my way.” Nebula answers curtly and in that moment, the cuffs come free and she walks off. You smile at Groot, who looks confused. He climbs onto your shoulder by walking up your arm as if it were a bridge and takes a comfy looking seat near your collarbone, resting his little feet on the visible bone and using it as a footrest.

You can hear a commotion in the forest and assume it has something to do with whatever the animal had planned. Rolling your eyes, you turn to head towards the noise and so does Nebula.

“Do you have a plan for this?” You can’t help but ask her, she looks so determined and driven. By what, you don’t know. But you want to. The thirst for knowledge on her is dangerous and is likely to get you killed, probably by her, but you don’t care. You know her, you just don’t remember where from.

“…no.” Nebula answers and you smile slightly.

“We’ll just make it up as we go along then.” You say simply and she looks at you.

“What? It’ll be fine.”

-

It was definitely not fine. This group of Ravagers were worse than what you had even heard through the bar gossip, but you suspect the mutiny you witnessed had something to do with it. Somehow you’d managed to escape crazy and land yourself into even more crazy.

‘Out of the frying pan and into the fire’ had never felt so accurate. The Ravagers were maniacs and although the animal, Rocket (Groot was starting to make some sense to you and you managed to understand enough) was literally laughing in the face of potential death, it was a dangerous situation. Somehow, Nebula had managed to get control over them all and had made it clear that you were her right hand.

_“Well, hello boys.” Nebula says smoothly, taking a bite out of the yaro root you had given her. Wait, she still had that? Seconds later she spits it out and looks…embarrassed? “It’s not ripe.”_

_“Who are you?” One of the men asked menacingly. Nebula stood her ground and walked to the middle of the group._

_“That isn’t important. Take the racoon and let’s go.”_

_“What about the Renegade?” Another man asks as he grabs a pair of handcuffs. Damn, you really need to get a change of clothes that doesn’t give you away in a split second. Nebula stays silent for a moment then puts her chin up, standing slightly in front of you._

_“They’re mine.”_

After that interaction, you had all been taken back to the Ravager’s ship and let the men do what they wanted. That happened to be killing half of the original crew and instating a ‘Taser-Face’ as a new leader. What a stupid name.

Nebula had her own little corner where she was tinkering with something on her arm. You had found some new clothes and were wearing what looked like scraps of fabric haphazardly sewn together to make a jumper of sorts that looked huge against your starved body. It would take months to get back to how you used to be. Using a tablet, you were trying to figure out a way back to your adoptive family. Even though they were monsters in living forms, it was the closest thing you had to a home or somewhere to go back to.

You head an electronical hiss and then a more human one followed shortly after. You look at Nebula and see her frowning at her robotic hand. Something was wrong. You pick up the toolbox next to you and sit by her side, making her freeze and look up at you harshly.

“I know tech, I can help.” You say as an explanation and immediately get to work.

Nebula doesn’t resist and you can feel her eyes on you, but you ignore it and focus on the arm. It looks familiar, just like the rest of her does, and it’s starting to drive you mad. It’s a simple problem, hidden by the debris and mess that is her arm. The technology is stunning, whoever made this knew what they were doing. The big question as to why this was done is heavy on your tongue but you know it isn’t something to be lightly discussed.

“I still can’t figure it out.” You sigh in frustration as you connect the broken wires.

“What.” Nebula asks in her stunted way, testing her fingers out. At least they work properly now.

“You.” You look up at her, smiling slightly. She stops and stares at you again.

“I swear that I know you. I feel like I’ve done this before.” You gesture vaguely to her arm after closing the metal covers. Nebula stays frozen for a few moments before retracting her hand and looking away.

The silence that comes with Nebula returns and you use the moment to put the tools back where they belong.

“My memories are corrupt. There are empty spaces in my mind, thanks to my father.” The words are quiet, barely audible over the hum of the engines, but you hear her nonetheless. She sounds bitter, angry at the loss. Without thinking, you put a hand on her knee.

“I’m sorry they were taken from you.” You say, quietly and sincerely, matching her whispery tone. She stares at your hand and you can her a small gulp of sorts, so you pull your hand away.

You pick up the toolbox and look around, there was a man who was supposed to organize a ship for Nebula to leave, but he hadn’t come back yet. The sooner you could get off this chaotic ship, the better.

“Thank you.” Is what makes you stop moving. You turn back to Nebula and she’s looking anywhere that isn’t you, but you’ll take it.

“No problem. It’s what friends do.” You reply and at the word ‘friends’, Nebula’s eyebrows twitch. Ever the stoic assassin. The small movement is enough for you to know that she agrees with the statement to some degree and that’s good enough for you.


End file.
